SpruceOS 4.0 is here after nearly a year of heavy development and more than 3,000 commits since v3.3.2. The new release broadens Spruce from “A30 rescue kit” to a proper multi-device platform covering the Miyoo Flip, A30, Mini Flip, TrimUI Smart Pro, TrimUI Brick, and TrimUI Smart Pro S, with Miyoo Mini and Mini Plus builds now in active development.
The features include a brand-new Python-based front-end UI (PyUI) and all the under-the-hood work that comes with those 3,000+ commits, layered on top of Spruce’s existing quality-of-life perks. There’s also a revamped all‑in‑one installer app for Windows, macOS, and Linux that can one‑click deploy stable builds, nightlies, and sibling projects like Sprig and Twig to supported handhelds.
The devs warn that updating via OTA is not recommended and strongly suggest a fresh install. At minimum, they advise a “manual update” that wipes everything on the card except Roms, BIOS, Saves, Collections, and Persistent, then copies the new files, including a hidden .tmp_update folder, before letting the device churn through the migration on first boot.
In the r/SBCGaming announcement, sundownersport explains that shipping a stable 4.0 “has a few goals” for development: “we hope to clear the decks a bit and be less careful of breaking a nightly release and a solid base for bug reports to come in through where we dont have to guess which nightly version people were on.” They describe Spruce as an all‑volunteer effort done “for fun with any spare time we have in our lives,” and users are invited to their newly opened Spruce Discord.
Will you be checking out the update? Let us know in the comments below, and chat with us in our Discord!
Source: GitHub via r/SBCGaming
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